Icy Waters
by Kythe42
Summary: This is a missing scene written for the episode, The Shrine, showing what takes place between the team being stranded on top of the Stargate and Rodney falling asleep in the back of the Puddle Jumper. Lots of Rodney whumping.


Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. I'm merely borrowing them for my own amusement.

Spoilers: Season 5, mainly for the episode, The Shrine.

Author's Notes: This story was written at the request of an online acquaintance of mine. She enjoyed it so much that I've decided to share it with everyone. There is some dialogue in the beginning that's quoted from the show, but the majority of this piece is my own writing.

* * *

There was water everywhere, icy cold water. The world they had gated to was severely flooded, and John Sheppard and his team had no choice but to perch on top of the Stargate, the only thing that was above water for miles, until help could arrive. John had managed to dial the DHD to Atlantis to radio for help, but the force of the water against the wormhole was preventing it from shutting down. They'd have to wait another half hour before it shut down on its own so that Atlantis could then gate to them to send help. The whole team was soaking wet and shivering, but Rodney seemed to be shaking a bit more violently than the others.

"I can't stop shivering," Rodney complained.

"You're letting all the hot air out of your mouth," said Ronon.

Rodney made a slight whimpering noise as he continued trembling from the cold.

"Alright everyone, we'll be warm soon enough," John said trying to reassure everyone, but mostly Rodney.

"Oh I don't know," said Rodney, "I think I got wetter than you did."

"I don't know, I got a little damp dialing the DHD," John replied sarcastically.

Teyla spoke up, "The research camp was further up this valley. I'm a little concerned for Dr. Nichols team."

"Right," said John. He activated his radio and spoke into it, "Anyone at the research camp, this is Colonel Sheppard. Please respond." There was nothing but static on the line. He tried again, "I repeat: this is Colonel Sheppard. Please respond."

"I'm pretty sure they're all dead," said Rodney.

"We can't know that, Rodney!" Teyla objected.

"Look," said Rodney, "the research team was studying the effects of global warming. They set up camp at the foot of a massive glacier up the valley."

"You're thinking the ice dam broke," said John.

"Right," said Rodney, "I mean, the Ancients don't put Stargates on a flood plain, and I certainly don't think the tide just came in. It explains why the water's so freezing," Rodney sneezed suddenly into his hand, "Oh oh, ok. Ok so now I'm hot and I'm still shivering," he sniffled and moaned.

Teyla reached out and put her hand on Rodney's forehead. She could feel the heat emanating from his skin, "Were you running a fever before we left?"

Rodney thought for a second, "I dunno, maybe. I'm always running something." He continued to whimper pitifully.

John looked down at the water, "Alright, I think the water's receded a little, so uh…"

Rodney cut him off, "So we're gonna be stuck here all night."

"In the back of a warm cozy Jumper alright?" said John trying to calm Rodney down, "All you need to do is hold on for, I don't know, thirty minutes or so."

Rodney sneezed twice into the crook of his arm. He searched around in the pockets of his vest until he finally pulled out a travel pack of tissues. He opened it and pulled out a couple of tissues. Thankfully the plastic wrapping had kept most of the water out and they were just a little damp around the edges. He blew his nose wetly and tossed the used tissues into the water. He could really care less about littering at a time like this. He moaned as his head began to throb, "At least I'll probably die of hypothermia before the pneumonia sets in."

John rolled his eyes, "That's it Rodney, just keep looking on the bright side."

"You are not going to die," said Teyla firmly.

Rodney muttered something inaudible under his breath. He felt his nose start to tickle again and quickly pulled a tissue out of the pack and sneezed into it three times in quick succession. He sniffled and then coughed a few times.

"Quit it McKay," said Ronon sounding rather annoyed.

Rodney glared at him, "I can hardly help it. Anyway, most people say 'bless you'."

"They do? What for?" asked Ronon.

"Nevermind," said Rodney, "it's a silly Earth custom."

Ronon made a grunting noise then turned away and attempted to wring some of the water out of his long dreadlocks.

Rodney coughed several times and moaned, the coughing exacerbating his headache. "So cold…," he trailed off and rubbed his arms trying to generate some warmth.

"Yes, we're all cold," said John, "but we're not going to get any warmer by stating the obvious."

Rodney was going to make a snarky reply, but his tickling nose interrupted his thoughts and he let out four massive sneezes. The force of the sneezes triggered another coughing fit. He was shaking so much with each cough that he nearly fell off the Stargate.

Teyla grabbed Rodney's shoulders to steady him until the coughing subsided, "I think it would be best if you lie down." She gently pulled him toward her.

Rodney didn't argue and lay down on his side with his head resting in Teyla's lap. He moaned softly as he felt the need to sneeze again. He rubbed his nose and sniffled trying to alleviate the itch, but it did no good and he had to give in to the urge. He sneezed twice, wetly spraying Teyla's thigh. "So sorry, didn't mean to do that," he mumbled.

"It's alright Rodney," Teyla assured him.

"Don't feel good," Rodney murmured between coughs.

"He's gonna be ok isn't he?" John asked starting to grow concerned.

"I do not know," said Teyla, "I believe his fever is getting worse. I am concerned that this illness has set in so quickly."

"I'm sure it looks worse than it really is," said John trying to reassure himself as well as the others, "I bet a lot of that sneezing and coughing is just from him getting water up his nose."

"That may be so," said Teyla, "but we won't know until Dr. Keller examines him."

In his fevered condition, Rodney fell into a state of somewhere between wakefulness and sleep. He began muttering incoherently about something that seemed important, but he wasn't quite sure what it was or why. He could feel Teyla stroking his wet hair in the attempt to calm him down, but that didn't matter. He needed to get his point across, but to whom he wasn't sure. He was vaguely aware of the Stargate shutting down and then powering up again, but it all seemed so far away and irrelevant. Suddenly he was lifted to his feet by Ronon and he saw that there was a Puddle Jumper hovering in front of them with the back hatch open. John climbed in first, followed by Teyla. Rodney shakily climbed into the Jumper and Ronon jumped in after him.

John closed the hatch and opened the door to the front of the Jumper to see who had rescued them. Not surprisingly he saw Major Lorne operating the controls, "We're all safely aboard Major."

Lorne stood up and turned around to face his commanding officer, "Glad to see all of you are alive and well. There should be dry clothing, towels, and blankets in the corner. I'll come in the back with you so Teyla can change up here." John nodded and stepped aside to let Major Lorne pass. Teyla grabbed a towel and a pair of BDUs and stepped into the front compartment of the Jumper closing the door behind her.

Rodney rubbed his nose. The temperature change from outside to inside the Jumper seemed to aggravate his already irritated nasal passages. He could feel a sneezing fit coming on and he quickly grabbed a towel and started sneezing rapid-fire into it. After eight sneezes the fit seemed to subside. The sneezing fit took a lot out of him and his knees buckled as he felt a wave of dizziness come over him. John grabbed his arm to steady him before he fell over and helped him to sit down on one of the benches.

"Are you alright there Dr. McKay?" asked Lorne.

"Yes, perfectly fine, just dying is all," Rodney snapped.

"As far as we can tell it's just a bad cold," said John.

Lorne nodded, "Well we've got some medicine in the first aid kit if you think you can get him to take anything."

"Yeah, well I'll do my best," said John, "need to get that fever down."

"I can always hold him down while you force the pills down his throat," said Ronon.

"Will you all stop talking about me as if I'm not in the room?" said Rodney before breaking off into a series of coughs.

"You really need to get out of those wet clothes," said John.

Rodney rolled his eyes, "Really, you think?"

John picked up the rest of the BDUs and handed a set to Rodney and Ronon, taking the last set of BDUs for himself. They all started changing out of their wet clothing into the dry BDUs with Rodney taking the longest because he kept having to stop to cough or sneeze.

"Sorry if they don't fit very well," Major Lorne apologized, "This was the best I could do on short notice."

"It's ok," said John, "we all appreciate the dry clothing." However, Ronon didn't look that grateful, he'd gotten the worst luck out of all of them. The BDUs looked like they were three sizes too small and John had to fight to keep from laughing at how ridiculous he looked. He was sure the Satedan would be changing back into his regular clothes as soon as they dried. A moment later the door opened and Teyla reentered the back compartment with the opposite problem. Her BDUs were a bit too big for her, but she took it in stride and didn't look at all annoyed.

Feeling another sneezing fit coming on, Rodney quickly brought his towel up to his face just in time to catch a series of six sneezes. The sneezes were much louder than the ones from his previous fit and they were more violent as well bending him at the waist with each one. When the fit had passed he looked up to see everyone staring at him in astonishment, "What? Haven't you ever seen someone having an allergy attack before?"

John sat down next to Rodney and put a hand on his shoulder, "You're not having an allergy attack Rodney. You're sick, remember?"

A confused look came over Rodney's face, "Hmmm yes right."

John put his hand on Rodney's forehead and then jerked his hand back in surprise, "You're really burning up." He turned to Major Lorne, "Where's the first aid kit? He needs medicine now!" Lorne opened a wall storage compartment and pulled out the first aid kit and handed it to John. John opened the kit and found the ibuprofen. He shook out three pills and handed them to Rodney.

"I need something to drink," said Rodney, "I can't swallow them dry."

Lorne got a thermos and mug from the compartment. He opened the thermos and poured a hot steaming drink into the mug and handed it to Rodney, "Here you go."

Rodney just stared at his drink, "What is it?"

"It's just tea, it'll help clear your head," Lorne answered.

Rodney frowned, "There's no lemon in this right?"

Major Lorne sighed, "No Dr. McKay, there's no lemon or any other kind of citrus in it. It's just plain tea."

Still not looking entirely convinced, Rodney swallowed the pills with a gulp of tea. John found some antihistamines in the first aid kit, shook a couple out of the bottle, and held them out to Rodney. Rodney pushed his hand away. "I don't want those, they make me drowsy," he protested as he fought off a yawn.

"You can barely stay awake now as it is," said John, "What's the difference?"

"What if something goes wrong with the Jumper and you need me to fix it?" Rodney demanded.

"You need rest Rodney," said Teyla, "we will wake you if we need you."

Rodney was too tired to argue anymore, "Oh fine, give me the stupid pills." He snatched them out of John's hand and swallowed them with the rest of the tea. The steam from the tea did help to clear some of the congestion from his head, but in doing so it made his nose tickle and run. He grabbed the towel again and let loose a trio of sneezes into it. He blew his nose wetly into the towel. He shivered, "I don't care how hot you say I am. I'm still freezing."

John got up grabbed a blanket from the pile in the corner and handed it to Rodney, "Just lie down and try to get some sleep. We'll be back in Atlantis before you know it."

Rodney nodded and lay down on the bench. He wrapped the blanket snugly around himself and within minutes he fell into a deep fevered sleep.


End file.
